Intercultural missional leadership : a narrative approach focusing on "Tabeh village" missional work in Cambodia

Abstract

This dissertation explores the theological and practical discourses of missional leadership. Theologically, the research reinterprets various frames of the Bible's viewpoint of the cultural mandate. Namely, the research understands that the terms "biblical worldview," "biblical theology," and "redemptive history," refer to the Bible's explanation of the triune God's firm will, which is that by His missional leadership, He redeems all of the corrupted world. The triune God's missional leadership also devolved to humans, who were made in the image of God, as a part of His redemption plan. This dissertation also examines the practical discourse of missional leadership by first exploring contemporary theories behind the practice. The research compares and contrasts the attributes, features, and principles between missional leadership and contemporary general leadership. In contemporary general leadership, leaders tend to interact with members in a horizontal exchange. Missional leadership, however, deals with the vertical relationship between God and the leader, in addition to the horizontal exchange between the leader and members. This dissertation's main focus is the missional leadership of elder Hwang, a Korean American missionary who has been working in Cambodia for 17 years, as an example for practical discourse. Through the qualitative research of Hwang's biographical narrative, the study evaluates the ways Hwang used both the instruments of contemporary general leadership and the demanded features of missional leadership. The intention of the research is to explore the principles, features, and effectiveness of sustainable missional leadership in an intercultural, global society of the postmodern era. This dissertation shows that the triune God's missional leadership plants, nurtures, and uses His people to be leaders who work to restore all the corrupted creatures of this world. Missional leadership helps to fulfill us as the image of God, for both those who receive and deliver the gospel.